


Spirit of Vengance

by kappa77



Series: Fem February Challenge [3]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Body Horror, Fighting amongst Friends, Friends to Enemies, Gen, Outriders, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6071392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kappa77/pseuds/kappa77
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aryn couldn't take it anymore. After years of working for the enemy, the famed Outriders, she knew now was the time to strike. And of course, the one left standing would be the one Outrider she considered a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spirit of Vengance

Her blood pounded in her ears, but for once, it was for a good reason. They were all dead, everyone who’d caused she and her people death and destruction was dead. She clenched her sword tighter, memories of all she had to do in order to get Ventis’ trust, how many spiritfolk she had killed over the years, how many people she trained to kill even more. A quick glance around put all those worries behind her. 

No one would be doing that again.

She stepped forward, picking up her blade from the body it protruded from. Her journey wasn’t over, there was still one more to go, one she wasn’t sure if she should kill or not.

He stood in the center of the carnage, the eye of the storm, wildly looking around. His eyes were wide and his face stained with blood, whether it was his or a companion’s was impossible to tell. When he caught sight of her, he visibly relaxed, but tensed up again when he saw the grin on her face.

“A-Aryn, what happened? We-We were just attacked and it-it’s a slaughter house here!”

She tilted her head to the side, as if she was regarding a child. “Poor Gregor, already repressing what just happened.”

He looked more shocked, as if that was possible. “I-I don’t-”

“Oh course you don’t, you’re just as thick of all these other murderers!” She found herself panting hard, getting worked up again as memories flashed past her and the last of the Outriders standing in front of her. She forced herself to slow her breathing, staring at the still confused Gregor.

“But,” she continued, “I can spare you, if you just get out of my way.”

“Spare me? Aryn, I don’t understand!” he exclaimed, the desperation clear in his tone

The one cloaked in blue rolled her eyes. “Gregor, we both know you’re not that stupid. Your precious little Ventis taught you how to puzzle out a battle. Could Renalan’s army have known of the Outriders position?”

“No, we were too well concealed.”

“Good, so what does that lead you to believe?”

“That… That we were betrayed.”

“Very good. Last question that will hopefully stop your naivety; who wasn’t with the Outrides when the fight started?”

“... Y-You.”

“Now put them all together,” Aryn said, grinning wide.

Gregor’s gaze hardened and his voice stopped trembling. “It was you.”

Her smile grew wider. “There we go, that wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“But why?! We were a family!”

“The Outriders _killed_ my family!” Aryn shouted. “And I’m done with the questions! Leave here or fight!”

“Never! I won’t desert my family!”

Aryn sighed, readying her blade and swinging it. Gregor blocked her blade instinctively, the metals sparking. Aryn jumped back over a body, holding her blade out before her. Gregor charged, their blades meeting in the middle once again. Aryn managed to cut Gregor’s upper arm as he pulled back. He wiped blood out of his eyes and stuck Aryn’s blade again. With a futile jerk of his arm, he tried to push her back. She barely moved, but her sword jerked back enough to slice at her cheek. Gregor instinctively braced himself to block out her scream, but she only laughed.

Still primed for battle, he looked harder at her bloodied cheek, trying to comprehend what he saw. Instead of blood and flesh beneath her skin there were red scales, not that of a lizard, they were harder and thicker than a lizards.

“You're so cute when you're trying to think.” Aryn said, brushing her scaly cheek. “You know, I kinda like this look. But I think it needs a bit more-”

She pinched a piece of her cheek that still remained and pulled up. Gregor stood transfixed as she pulled more of her skin back, revealing more red scales. The skin continued to peel up past her eye, almost looking like her skin was connected to a contact lens that revealed a golden cat-like eye in it’s place. 

She tossed the skin away, feeling the half of her face covered in scales. “I really feel like this completes the look. What do you think?”

Gregor was shocked into silence.

“I can almost hear the gears running in your head… I think now’s the time to silence them.”

She swung her sword down and it was only because of his instincts that he blocked, pushing her back again. 

“Y-you don't have to do this!” he said, the tremor in his voice returning.

“Don't have to do this!? Do you know how long it took to get here? How many years wasted on training with you… you murderers! Having to slaughter my own kin, but it was all worth it. Worth seeing this!”

She gestured to the battlefield, the Outriders dead and dying around them, their supplies burning along with some of the bodies. 

“To see the Outriders destroyed, never to harm a spiritfolk again!”

She swung again, nearly cutting the glaive in two. Gregor stumbled back, tripping over a body of a fallen comrade and landing flat on his back. Aryn wasted no time walking over to stand over Gregor, pointing her sword at his chest.

“And now, no more Outriders.”

She pulled her arm back, but Gregor managed to wedge his glaive under the damp dirt and fling it up into her eyes. Taking advantage of this brief distraction, he jumped to his feet and put some distance between her.

Aryn snarled at him. “Either get out of my way or fight!”

Gregor looked up at her, glaive at his side. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Really? Really?! I’m who you’ve been trained to kill all your life! So either fight me like Ventis would want you to, or run away from the monster.”

“Ventis wouldn't want me to kill an Outrider,” Gregor whispered.

“Then run!”

Gregor backed up, slowly gaining speed, turned away only when he broke into a sprint. Aryn watched him go, sheathing her sword on her back.

“Now then-” she scanned the battlefield. “I’m free for the first time in 30 years… what to do?”

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to Emboo and Draco for betaing this!
> 
> This was inspired by Horaven's assumption that whoever broke in to the Valor Clan was a spiritfolk


End file.
